Wanted: Dead or Alive

The poems in this collection deal primarily with the views of a young adult, a caring and charismatic individual, on his own life and times and some of the wider issues affecting mankind since time began. An account of the young man's fundamental views on life is followed by reflections on the joys and challenges of youth; the contradictions inherent in the Western concept of development and progress; the power and the beauty of love and nature, and, finally, the duality in the nature of man. A series of poems capture the sudden and accidental death of the young man, his own pain and the sorrow of those that remain behind, and their struggle to come to terms with the loss of their loved one. The final poems see him talk of his new life beyond the pain of physical existence, from where he sends messages of consolation to friends, family and all those living. Wanted: Dead or Alive imparts the message that the dead, just as much as the living, can be the object of a dynamic, fruitful relationship, if we leave ourselves open to that influence.